


Common Ground

by astudyinfic



Series: Flash Bang #1 (Indigo Team) [6]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Friends, Gen, M/M, at least everyone should love Magnus, everyone loves Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 13:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14380080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: When Mr. Garroway assigns everyone partners for their next project, Alec ends up with the second-to-last person he'd want.But, thankfully for him, Magnus Bane has a way of bringing even the most disparate people together.Square #5: Project Partners





	Common Ground

**Author's Note:**

> For the Shadowhunters Hiatus Flash Bang #1

“I’ll be assigning partners for this project, as we all know what happened the last time I let you choose partners on your own.”  Mr. Garroway’s pointed look at both Jace and Sebastian had Alec covering his hand to hide his laugh. The fight they had over who got to partner with Clary would be one of those things the class would remember forever.  Particularly when Clary chose Lydia over both of them and Jace and Sebastian ended up paired together.

The whole thing had been all kinds of ridiculous and led to Alec rolling his eyes and sighing, “ _Straights_ ” more times than he could count.

Still, he worried who he would get paired with.  He got along okay with everyone but there were very few people in here he liked.  It would be a challenge to work with anyone outside of his own circle. If only Magnus was in his class.  At least then he could have hoped to end up paired with his boyfriend. Being with Magnus made everything better.

But, as Magnus was a year ahead of them in school, he didn’t have to take Mr. Garroway’s English class, being in Dr. Fell’s class instead.  At least he would get Magnus’ sympathy (and probably a few kisses) when he complained about the situation later.

Still smiling about that thought, Alec realized Mr. Garroway was already listing the pairings and assigning their topics.  “Jace, you and Lydia will be presenting on ‘the government as an oppressor’.” Alec hated having assigned topics. He was never given one that was interesting.  He’d much rather have Jace and Lydia’s but he knew from experience not to argue with this teacher in particular. He was fair but strict.

“Sebastian, you and Tim will present on ‘the sympathetic villain’.  Maia and Clary, your topic is ‘the portrayal of women in classical literature’.”  At least the topics vague. Lots of room for interpretation for each of them.

Unfortunately, with very few people left that he liked (or even really knew), Alec worried about who he was going to get paired with.   _Please, not Simon.  Please, not Simon._  He didn’t know if his chanting worked but a moment later, he got his wish.  “Mr. Santiago, you and Mr. Lightwood will work on ‘the vampire as an object of desire’.”

It was all he could not to groan.  No, he wasn’t with Simon but Raphael wasn’t much better.  Sure, he was basically Magnus’ younger brother but they hadn’t seen eye to eye since Raphael dated Izzy and it ended...badly.  On both sides - Alec held no illusion that his sister was a completely innocent party - but when it came down to it, Alec would do anything to look out for her.  Which meant tensions were usually high whenever he and Raphael were together.

This should be fun.

“You all have one week to complete your assignments,” Mr. Garroway said as the bell rang and they all jumped up to head to their next class.  “Five page paper, with references!”

Finding Magnus at their shared locker, Alec gave him a quick kiss before launching into his tirade, “I think Mr. Garroway has it in for me!  Of everyone in the class, he assigned me to work with Raphael. He knows, doesn’t he? Just wants me to fail this class and be stuck here forever.”

“Don’t you think you are overreacting just a little bit, darling?  You could have been paired with Simon, so I really think you should count your blessings.”  Laughing at the grimace on Alec’s face, Magnus kissed him once more. “How about I have you both over tonight?  Dad is traveling for work again so we will have the place to ourselves and I can help mediate between the two of you.  Sound good?”

“I knew there was a reason I love you,” Alec beamed.  “That sounds perfect.”

Magnus rolled his eyes and took Alec’s hand, “Besides the fact that I’m gorgeous, intelligent, charming, and have a car?  You missed all my best attributes.”

“So did you, Mags.  Your big heart is your best one.”  Alec blushed a little, not having meant for that to come out but the smile Magnus gave him was enough to counteract the embarrassment he felt at not having a brain to mouth filter around his boyfriend.

Chuckling, Magnus shook his head, “You are the sweetest, darling.  Now, go to class before I drag you out to my car to find far more interesting ways to pass the time than advanced chemistry.”

“You’re first in that class, Magnus.  Don’t pretend you don’t love it. I’ll see you after school, okay?”

They shared one more kiss and Alec headed towards the math wing while Magnus turned to go to science.  With his boyfriend there, maybe they could make this work.

* * *

“What do you mean vampires don’t represent desire?  They are basically the personification of lust!”

It wasn’t working.  Alec would like to say he was trying but every time he looked at Raphael he started to get annoyed and he would snap at him.  Like now. Of course, vampires are supposed to be desire incarnate. Anyone could see that.

“No, they are the personification of gluttony.  They will feast until they can’t anymore. Whether that is blood or sex or whatever else it is they are going after.  I don’t think the sex is really what they care about, more the thirst for more. Plus, if you drank blood, you’d probably want to get your victim’s heart pounding as well.  It would make your job easier.”

Magnus stepped out of the room for two minutes to take a call and they were already at each other’s throats.  Which would have been ironic considering their topic if Alec was calm enough to think about it. “So what you are saying is that you see vampire’s view of sex like Magnus views that huge platter at the Ethiopian restaurant he likes so much?  You get more, faster, so it is the better option?”

“Exactly!” Raphael almost looked relieved that they had finally reached an agreement.  “So he’s taken you there too? I hate that place. I don’t know why he loves it so much.”

“Because they fawn all over him,” Alec laughed.  “You haven’t noticed that he likes going places where he is the center of attention?”  He loved Magnus but the man had his quirks, just like everyone else.

Raphael chuckled, “Of course.  I mean, why else dress like that?  Has he tried to buy you any clothes yet?  He bought me a see-through shirt once because I needed to stop dressing like I was going to a meeting with investors.  That is an exact quote.”

“I would kill for a see-through shirt.  Instead, I got one that read _My boyfriend likes it both ways_.  He gave it to me at Christmas in front of my mom and Luke.  I thought I was going to die.”

Their eyes met and the two of them broke down in belly aching laughter which was just beginning to die down when Magnus walked back into the room.  “That sounded like laughter. Are you two feeling alright?”

Alec and Raphael took one look at him and then at each other and started to laugh once more.  The more confused Magnus became, the more they laughed until tears streamed down their faces and they were bent over.  “I have a feeling I’ve just walked in on something I don’t want to know,” Magnus mumbled slowing moving towards the door.  “I wanted you two to be friends but this is unsettling.”

Alec managed to compose himself enough to cross the room and pull Magnus into a hug.  “I love you,” he said seriously though there was still some humor in his eyes. “And I think Raphael and I might be able to get along now.  Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I love you too.  I’m not sure I like this, though.”  Magnus wrapped one arm around Alec and gestured between him and Raphael with the other.  “I think I liked it better when you hated each other. At least then you weren’t laughing at me.”

“We weren’t, Mags, I promise.  We were bonding over your idiosyncrasies that we both love, even when you drive us crazy.”

“Hermano, do you really think Lightwood would ever laugh at you?  He’s so smitten even I can see it.”Alec nodded, smiling at Magnus.  “You two are disgustingly sweet together. I’m surprised I don’t have cavities.”

Magnus, appeased, gave Alec a kiss.  “Alright, fine. You’re both lucky I love you.  Now finish this project and I’ll take you out for dinner.  I was thinking Ethiopian.” Alec could see the regret on his face the moment they both started laughing again.  “I take it back, I hate you both.”

By some miracle, they did manage to finish the project and get an A on it as well.  “I wasn’t expecting this from the both of you,” Mr. Garroway commented. “I thought this would be a challenge for you two, considering your very different points of view.”

“We managed to find some common ground,” Alec shrugged and Raphael nodded.

Probably not the common ground their teacher was thinking but that was the magic of Magnus.  He could bring anyone together. Even Raphael and Alec.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr at [brooklynxmagic](http://brooklynxmagic.tumblr.com) or [astudyinfic](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com)


End file.
